


Catching Smoke (With Your Bare Hands)

by arrows_and_fairytales



Series: Would You Still Love Me (If I was . . .) [3]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover, F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-19
Updated: 2015-01-23
Packaged: 2018-03-08 04:50:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3195920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arrows_and_fairytales/pseuds/arrows_and_fairytales
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With Daniel Whitehall dead, the S.H.E.I.L.D. Team is that much closer to ending HYDRA once and for all, but what happens when their investigation leads them to Starling City. </p><p>Even two universes worth of heroes might not be enough to slay the beast.</p><p>  <b>*No Longer Being Updated</b></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Set beginning of season 3 in Arrow (assumes that Oliver got the company rather than Palmer). And set just after Whitehall's death in AOS -- the cave incident didn't happen.

The wind whipped around their ankles as they stepped onto the helipad. Felicity had received a text from her father, something she would normally have ignored, but this one said that he would be meeting her on the roof of Queen Consolidated in the next fifteen minutes. Her dad’s aerial mode of transport and oh so convenient landing spot on the roof of her place of employment made her almost wish for the simpler days at Tech Village. Almost. And of course, when she got the text Oliver just happened to be out of meetings--a rarity since getting the company back two months ago--and he being the nosy and overprotective friend he was, decided to tag along when Felicity told him she was going up to the roof for a moment. Curse her mouth for alway providing too many details! With Digg refusing to miss out on the escape from the corporate wonderland, the three of them made their way to the roof. Nervous, Felicity had only told them that she was meeting someone who was flying into Starling and had asked to park on the QC helipad.

As it dipped beneath the clouds, the trio had to shade their eyes to catch sight of the massive plane that was on course for their location.

Diggle threw Felicity a glance. “Are you meeting someone from the government?”

Felicity ignored him, instead heaving a great sigh and pinching the bridge of her nose. Quietly she muttered, “Really, Dad?”

Oliver was surprised for he distinctly remembered Felicity telling him that her father had left she and her mom when she was little. But he had little time to ask as the silence on the roof was quickly broken as the plane lowered. It was definitely of some military origin but, Amanda wouldn’t be so obvious as to land a plane on his building in broad daylight and if it was any of the alphabetical agencies he was positive they would simply come striding through the front door, no doubt be happily guided by a certain SCPD captain. But most of all, anyone would more likely be here for him than Felicity.

The hatch lowered, slowing a revealing an older man in a suit walking down to meet them. It hadn’t even touched the ground before Felicity was striding forward, her loud voice on the warm up.

“Dad? What are you doing here? You can’t just land on the roof of my job-not that my job actually has a roof, but you know what I mean.”

Her irritation didn’t seem to phase him in the least as he walked towards her. With the quiet now relatively restored to the rooftop, he said with a shrug “Well, you weren’t answering my calls.”

There seemed to be a short impasse as father and daughter held each other’s gaze, before Felicity huffed and quickly closed the distance to hug the man. After a moment, Oliver coughed lightly to remind his partner that there were two very confused people there with them; although glancing at Digg, he noticed that the other man didn’t even seemed fazed by the appearance of Felicity’s supposedly-absent father, but then again, Oliver had the strong suspicion that Felicity could say that she was a lost princess from the planet Mars and John Diggle wouldn’t even bat an eye.

Jumping into action, Felicity guided her father over to them to make introductions. “Dad, this is my. . .” she was caught because no word seemed to be the right fit for who exactly Oliver was to her. “Oliver. Oliver, this is my dad. Agent Phil Coulson of the Strategic Homeland Intervention--”

“Just call us S.H.I.E.L.D.” Coulson smiled, reaching forward to shake Oliver’s hand. “It’s good to finally meet you, Mr. Queen.”

“Finally?” Oliver felt his brow furrowing and out of the corner of his eye, he could see Felicity nervously rubbing her hands together. Never in his life had Oliver felt more out of the loop.

Coulson continued as if he was talking about nothing more significant than the weather. “Who do you think gave Waller your file?”

 _Really, Dad?_ Anxious to get a handle back on the situation, Felicity quickly shifted the conversation. She could feel Oliver’s intense questioning gaze on her and she knew she was in for a really, really long conversation later, but right now she wanted to know why exactly her father had dropped by unannounced. And with the bus, no less. “Dad, what exactly are you doing here? And don’t say a social call because I know you don’t roll out all of that,” she gestured to the massive plane, “for visiting your daughter. Because you normally bring a smaller plane, or even a helicopter, and there was that one really one time where you came up to MIT on the train and 3. . . 2. . . .1”

Coulson sighed. “Daniel Whitehall’s dead. And based on the information we gathered from his compound we were able to get closer to the heart of the beast. A trail that has lead us here and we need your help.” He glanced at each of them. “All of you.”

 


	2. The Wheels on the Bus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fun times aboard the Bus. Its a time for truth telling and debriefing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the kind feedback. This chapter is double (I counted) the size of chapter one. Enjoy!

“That’s not something you just bring up in casual conversation, Oliver!”

The trio had been led onto the Bus, and after a quick conversation with her father, they had been left alone in his office, because apparently hashing out all the revelations of the past fifteen minutes was happening . . .now. Felicity figured it was best to get over with--the old bandaid method--rather than letting Oliver fester with his questions and assumptions through an entire briefing. But it seemed that any explanation she offered wasn’t satisfying her partner, hence the caged tiger routine; and Felicity patience was about becoming as thin as worn thread.

“You should have told me, Felicity! What else does he know about me, about us?! And he’s working with Waller?” Oliver’s voice was quickly rising, and without realizing he had changed course and was quickly approaching her. “How can we- I trust him? You lied to me, Felicity, you said--”

Felicity patience snapped, the sound reverberating in the small space.

So tired of him going into situations with his blinders up, Felicity didn’t even remotely try to backtrack her actions--even as both Oliver and Diggle stared at her in shock, Oliver cupping his now red cheek. “Oliver Jonas Queen, you listen to me and you listen good. I get that you have trust issues, believe me I do. But I never once lied to you. My father did leave when I was six, because he decided that he couldn’t work for S.H.I.E.L.D and have a family. So he left. And while I got a card from him every birthday and was able to see him once in a blue moon, it wasn’t the same! He was only my father part-time, because saving the world always came first.”

Digg snorted at this and shook his head because that didn’t sound familiar. Not at all.

Felicity continued, “At the age of sixteen I joined S.H.I.E.L.D to be closer to my dad. Because I thought that maybe then, I could be a closer second to saving the world. I was good, really good. But in my second year of college I left because of things that happened that changed my perspective,” She paused, sighing heavily.

“My point is, Oliver, I didn’t lie to you. I told you the truth, but all this,” she gestured to the space around them. “was my secret to tell. And you may think that your’s is your night time activity, but, in reality, it is the island and what happened to you there that’s your real secret. It’s yours to reveal, or not, in your own time. But Oliver, you put your life in my hands every night. I know that you trust me to guide you. And I’m asking you to trust me now. Because while I know you’re not a fan of secret government organizations--I’ve met Waller and she makes that totally understandable--I’m not asking you to trust S.H.I.E.L.D., I’m asking to trust me, trust my dad. Because, believe it or not, there are still a few honest men in the world who do things simply because it is the right thing to do, no ulterior motives . . .a concept my dad pretty much invented.”

Oliver opened his mouth to respond when a voice from the doorway spoke. “You know, Fury the exact same thing to me a couple months ago.”

Felicity and Oliver turned to see Coulson leaning against the doorjamb. “Really? How’s Fury doing?”

Coulson shrugged as he walked forward. “Dead. Then not dead. Handed me the keys--really more of a toolbox--to the kingdom. He decided it was a good idea to make me the director.”

Felicity laughed, albeit a tad strained, as her dad stopped next to her.

“You should have seen it. He called me an Avenger and everything.” Coulson had a small grin on his face as he looked at his daughter. Oliver was surprised because while there wasn’t much in the way of physical similarity, he could tell that Felicity got her positivity and gentle manner from her father. What also surprised him was that even though Felicity said that she was always second best in her father’s eyes and personally knowing what it was like to have parents who put a whole host of things before their children, Oliver knew that Felicity could not be more wrong. Because the way Phil Coulson looked at his daughter it was as if she were the rarest of gems and the most precious of angels.

*           *           *

“So, who do you think the new guys are?” Skye rested her elbows against the holocom table. Coulson had stayed below deck on a call after he had led the three strangers to his office.

“I don’t know, but did you see the big guy’s arms. They’re twice the size of mine.” Tripp, who stood off to the corner, said without glancing up from his tablet.

May just shook her head, focusing on the data she was gathering on the holocom.

All of them looked up, though, when the door opened and Coulson walked in, the three newcomers behind him.

“Guys, this is Oliver Queen, John Diggle, and my daughter, Felicity Smoak.”

Skye and Tripp exchanged equally shocked looks. Skye spoke first, “You never told us you had a daughter . . sir.”

Coulson shrugged, moving forward to pick up the tablet on the table, but May didn’t miss the quick flash of sadness that crossed Skye’s features before she glanced down at her own tablet, throwing the information they had found from Whitehall’s compound up onto the screen.

“Daniel Whitehall. Scientist for HYDRA. He was responsible for the brainwashing of new recruits and how should I say this . . .expanding HYDRA’s horizons through experimentation.” Coulson said focusing on the blown up shot on screen of the former HYDRA scientist.

May continued. “During the raid, S.H.I.E.L.D. was able to seize a lot of Whitehall’s experiments, however there nothing that would lead us directly to upper HYDRA leadership. We did discover through his emails that much of the information on HYDRA’s layout is on a highly encrypted security fob.”

Coulson tapped a few buttons on his tablet and new information filled the screen--blueprints and a mug shot of a middle-aged asian man. “We’ve picked up chatter that the fob is in the hands of this man: Lee Na Wei, a black market arms dealer. The fob is kept on his person at all times, a great form of security since the man rarely leaves his penthouse. However, we know that in two weeks he will be playing host to a gala for his father’s charity in Hong Kong. Being out in the open will give us the chance to get close to Mr. Wei and retrieve the fob. After we decrypt it we will have a better idea of the hierarchy of the current HYDRA management.”

The director turned to Oliver. “Mr. Queen, you will run point on this mission because of your familiarity with the area and his sister, Chi Na Wei.”

To the others in the room, Oliver seemed impassive with his assignment, but Felicity could see the slight tightening of his jaw as he slid one of his many masks in place.

“Because the gala is not for another two weeks, Agent May you will give Mr. Diggle and Mr. Queen a S.H.I.E.L.D crash course--make sure the well aware of all procedures, team strategies, etc. Felicity, you’ll be working with your SO to refresh your training.”

“I thought Bobbi was stationed in Budapest?” Felicity asked, surprised. The last email she had received from her old SO had been over a year and half ago.

“Budapest was a cover. Agent Morse was undercover with HYDRA and after things went south, she rotated back to field duty.

“Oh.”

“And what about _our_ cover stories? We, especially Oliver, can’t be gone for several weeks without someone taking notice.” Diggle deadpanned.

Skye spoke up. “We’ve left a sizeable paper trail that for anyone who might start asking questions. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, you and Felicity are accompanying Mr. Queen on a business trip because Queen Consolidated is interested in investing in a chain of hotels in Tahiti.”

Felicity saw a small smile on her father’s face as he said quietly, “It’s a magical place.”

*           *           *

The lab was colder than usual when he entered. Queen was leaning against the the holographic table. As Coulson rounded the corner, he could see the man spinning what looked to be a crude arrow--probably fashioned from scraps laying around the lab--between his thumbs and index fingers. The director wasn’t surprised that such a weapon had been put together so quickly and easily, after all he doubted that Oliver Queen had spent his time on that island braiding friendship bracelets out of coconut husks.

“Felicity told me I might find you here.”

“Do you need me to leave?” The edge in the younger man’s voice made it clear he wasn’t just talking about the ability to use the training space.

“No,” Coulson sighed, crossing his arms across his chest. “She didn’t know. Felicity. She didn’t know that S.H.I.E.L.D. was the one to give your file to Waller.”

Oliver’ raised a brow, his silent question echoing through the empty lab.

“It was the only way to get you off the island, without bringing you home. We knew you weren’t ready yet. And though it might not seem like it, Waller has a line. Granted it’s one set by S.H.I.E.L.D protocol, but even she wouldn’t step foot over it. That was why the mission with Merlyn was scrubbed without consequences, because she may have gotten you into it, but we made sure that trigger was never going to be pulled. We needed your skills to be sharpened and molded so that there could be no doubt if we needed to pull you from Starling for our Emergency Response Team.”

“What?” The arrow halted it’s movement between his fingers.

“From the moment we got wind of your training on Lian-Yu, you became a candidate for the Avengers Initiative.”

*           *           *

Melinda May held no punches as she strode into Coulson’s office after the teams had dispersed to their respective assignments.

“You really think this was a good idea?”

“Bring Queen in? --”

“No, bringing Felicity back to S.H.I.E.L.D?”

“What?”

“She has her own team now, Phil. Are you sure this isn’t attempt to bring her back into the fold? We have our own archer and our own hacker.” May saw the irritated look on Coulson’s face and quickly explained, “I just want to make sure you know what you’re doing.”

Coulson sighed, wiping a hand over his face. “Before that carving side effect passed, I had flashes. Flashes of different people, different connections.”

“You know who’s at the center of HYDRA, don’t you? Then why go after the fob” May’s voice was softer now. She knew Coulson’s time under the effects of GH drug were still a tricky subject. Even though the desire to carve had disappeared, she still didn’t have a full grasp on all the mental ripple effects he had suffered these past few months.

“Yes, and that’s the reason she and her team are here. Because if I’m right, being with S.H.I.E.L.D. is the only thing that’s going to keep them safe. And besides, the only way she’ll believe me is with concrete evidence.”


End file.
